Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 4, 1 May 1984 — In Support of Ritte [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

In Support of Ritte

By Hayden Burgess Trustee, O'ahu

Walter Ritte. perhaps the most aggressive. outspoken, action-oriented trustee, is now under attack. He has been in the forefront of OH A's cultural plans and programs, a major advocate for native Hawaiian rights eonferences and a supporter of protecting and enhancing the cultura! practices and values of our ancestors. He was largely responsible for blocking major land developments on Molokai and exposing the desecration of Hawaiian bones by eonstruction activities. All of his achievements would be too mueh to mention in this short space. As a resu!t of such strong and consistent advocacy. he has been the target of criticism and government attack. He is now being persecuted for a petty elaim of hunting for food. Of course, the government tampers with the words and calls his actions "prohibited possession of firearms." His punishment is scheduled to be pronounced July 10. The government claims he will lose his trustee position. If that should happen, it is not Walter Ritte who will be punished. but every one of us who elaim to be Hawaiian. His insight, energy and complete dedication of uplifting the plight of the Hawaiians, not only materially, but perhaps more important. spiritually, is a loss we should not take willingly. How many more times must we watch our people threatened to be torn away from full political participation because their practice of culture or politics is made illegal by the prevailing govern-

ment? Hope is not lost. The judge ean allow Walter to file his appeal before sentencing him, thus giving the Supreme Court a look at the case before his trustee seat is taken away. This is the same procedure followed in the Gene Alhano voter fraud case. Secondly, the Attorney General's office has previously argued in Circuit Court that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees were not fully "public office holders" because they are not e!ected by all of the people of Hawaii but only by Hawaiians. Therefore, they are to be viewed differently. How differently?That question is still unresolved. Third, precedent may have been set by several American Indian cases in whieh the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that the indigenous groups should be aecorded the right to determine their own rules of self government. If that principle applies to us, should we not decide who sits on our boards of trustess? Walter Ritte has stood for many causes. His most recent forces us to address the question: "When do we take control over our own affairs, determine our own eligibility of participants, and open the doors for all of our people to join in this house of OHA? We ean all take a part in pushing for greater self-determination of our people. Write to the newspapers, eall the radio stations, contact Maui Judge Eric Romanchak, and don't forget the OHA trustees. This is an excellent opportunity for the Hawaiian people to strive for greater control over our affairs.